wonderful are the ways of Providence!" When a Spanish
schoolmaster suggested that the Testament was unintelligible without
notes, Borrow informed him that on the contrary the notes were far more
difficult, and "it would never have been written if not calculated of
itself to illume the minds of all classes of mankind." The Bible was, in
his published words, "the well-head of all that is useful and conducive
to the happiness of society"; and he told the poor Catalans that their
souls' welfare depended on their being acquainted with the book he was
selling at half the cost price. He could write not unlike the author of
"The Dairyman's Daughter," as when he exclaimed: "Oh man, man, seek not
to dive into the mystery of moral good and evil; confess thyself a worm,
cast thyself on the earth, and murmur with thy lips in the dust, Jesus,
Jesus!" He thought the Pope "the head minister of Satan here on earth,"
and inspired partly by contempt of Catholics, he declared that "no people
in the world entertain sublimer notions of the uncreated eternal God than
the Moors . . . and with respect to Christ, their ideas even of Him are
much more just than those of the Papists." And he said to the face of
the Spanish Prime Minister: "It is a pleasant thing to be persecuted for
the Gospel's sake." Nor was this pure cant; for he meant at least this,
that he loved conflict and would be fearless and stubborn in battle; and,
as he puts it, he was "cast into prison for the Gospel's sake."

In 1843, no doubt, what first recommended this book to so many thousands
was the Protestant fervour and purpose of the book, and the romantic
reputation of Spain. At this day Borrow's Bible distribution is mainly
of antiquarian and sectarian interest. We should not estimate the
darkness of Madrid by the number of Testaments there in circulation and
daily use, nor on the other hand should we fear, like Borrow, to bring
them into contempt by making them too common. Yet his missionary work
makes the necessary backbone of the book. He was, as he justly said, "no
tourist, no writer of books of travels." His work brought him adventure
as no mere wandering could have done. What is more, the man's methods
are still entertaining to those who care nothing about the distribution
itself. Where he found the remains of a robber's camp he left a New
Testament and some tracts. To carry the Bibles over the flinty hills of
Galicia and the Asturias he bought "a black